Writer & Teacher

Writing at a Standing Desk

I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now that reducing the amount of time spent sitting is a move toward better health and longevity. Most Americans spend too much time sitting – in cars, at desks, and in front of entertainment centers, remote in hand.

As a result, we lost agility and strength in the legs and flexibility in the calves, ankles, and outer hips. The abdomen and lower back muscles also weakened when we moved to seated work because backrests encourage us to neglect important core muscles.

Turns out, our fitness level has little bearing on the detrimental effects of sitting. A maximum three hours of sit time daily is the current recommendation, so it doesn’t matter how regimented we are about exercise if we spend the majority of our day in one chair or another. While it’s true that physical activity for 60 minutes or more a day moves us to a physically active status, the bottom line is excessive sitting is bad. Think about this analogy: Smoking is bad for you no matter how much you run. So is a mostly deskbound lifestyle.

What’s more, prolonged sitting reportedly decreases circulation to the brain which harms both creativity and mood. Bad news for writers.

Because standing on your feet all day isn’t good for us either, it’s better to alternate between sitting and standing, But as I shopped for an adjustable workstation, I had to wonder: could I even coax words to paper while standing? Before investing any money I wanted to make sure I could “think on my feet” by rigging up my own trial stand-up workstation.

I double-stacked an old set of Encyclopedia Britannica atop my desk and spent the morning revising a 2,500-word article while standing. It took a little while, but I eventually got ‘in the flow’ and it became easy. My brain forgot all about the body’s vertical status and adequately reworked the piece. but man was I tired when finished. Lesson learned: I can’t write in flip-flops when standing. Get me my running shoes.

The experiment convinced me to buy an adjustable workstation for my desk. I could keep moving encyclopedias around – which would improve muscle tone in my arms – but it looked too Jeff Foxworthy and wasn’t as ergonomically sound as the one I eventually brought home.

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4 thoughts on “Writing at a Standing Desk”

Cali July 9, 2014 at 2:12 pm
I have not experienced a standing desk but it has been recommended since I’ve had back issues for some time now. I just find that standing in one position for any length of time is not really comfortable for me, but certainly something I will keep in mind while I work on Book #7.

candideal Post authorJuly 10, 2014 at 12:43 am
It’s something I’ve considered for awhile. I finally decided to go with an adjustable work station that sits on top of my regular desk once I figured out that I actually could word process while standing.

Dawn July 9, 2014 at 8:15 pm
What a great idea! As a fellow writer, I really appreciate your ingenuity. Love the idea of a stand-up workstation and had never considered that. Will investigate further. Look forward to your updates. Dawn